Crossed and Damned
by Purple Mongoose
Summary: Incredibly old 2xMercury fanfic (first of its kind, natch). Following Hilde's death, Duo is startled to meet Ami, who resembles her greatly. [On Hold]
1. Senseless Note-Thingies That You Should ...

Crossed and Damned  
Senseless Note-Thingies That You Should (!) Read Anyway  
  
  
What, Perchance, Is The Main Coupling?:  
  
The main coupling for this fic is Mizuno Ami/Duo Maxwell just so you know. I mean, why attempt a poorly written plot that tries to mask it? That and there are soooo many gosh-darn AWESOME Heero/Usagi fics that I'd be ashamed to even *try* my hand at 1xUsagi unless they're a supporting couple. (If you adore 1xUsagi-ism, look up some of D-Chan's stuff, and Angel Kisses', and Usa-chan's, and…aw, dang, there're too many great 1xU writers!!) So, feh.  
  
  
What Are The Supporting Couplings?:  
  
Aino Minako/Trowa Barton (or Triton Bloom…or Nanashi…)  
Tsukino Usagi/Heero Yuy (or that-other-name-that-makes-me-laugh-uncontrollably)  
Kino Makoto/Quatre R. Winner  
Hino Rei/Chang Wufei (who, in all honesty, did *not* see that coming?)  
  
  
What's The Reason For The Title/Main Pairing?:  
  
Duo isn't as goofy as so many writers like to portray him. He hides all his pain and loneliness (and longing) behind a laugh-at-fear exterior, but I see him as an insecure young man who feels even more isolated and useless than Wufei does. He wears the Christian cross (hence, 'Crossed') but calls himself Shinigami, proudly boasting that he doesn't believe in God ('Damned'). Ami is not only his striking opposite, but also his striking soul-match. She hides her own fears and doubts behind a mask of knowledge and security. In a sense, Duo has himself convinced that he *is* a careless, carefree fool much as Ami has herself believing in her own lie of maturity and contentment. Thusly, would they not be a perfect fit for each other? (Get your mind back in the sewer and outta the gutter, hentai reader that you might be!) So, both Ami and Duo are, indeed, the "Crossed and Damned."   
  
  
What Are Your Reasons For The Other Couples?:  
  
The couplings of Minako/Trowa and Usagi/Heero can be explained similarly in my own mind, albeit with differences. Wufei and Rei, I need not explain. Makoto/Quatre is not often looked at as a possibility, but I'm quite fond of it. Makoto is wild and tempestuous when we first see her in SM, yet she has a good, motherly heart buried deep inside that Usagi's friendship manages to drag out. Quatre is sensitive and shy when he is first exposed as a pilot, even though he has his own demons to wrestle with, as shown when the Zero system sends him off his rocker. Both play the parts of substitute parent at times and both sometimes wish for a deeper meaning, a selfish desire they hide for the better good of their friends and the people. That and, to be blunt, they look soooo kee-YUTE together! :}  
  
  
  
Why A Crossover?:  
  
Because, though I haven't written one (aside from a rejected-by-myself SM/IMPULSE fic), I love crossovers more than the one-universe fics. The possibilities are endless and, though some fanfic writers seem too blunt to notice, there's a wider range of abilities to avoid gosh-awful clichés.   
  
  
Will There Be Character Bashing?:  
  
Much as I detest some characters (Mamoru leaps noticeably to mind, quickly followed by Urawa Ryo/Greg), I refuse to bash *any* characters. I happen to think Relena/Ririna (?) is a very strong woman and I admire her character for being stubborn enough to vouch for absolute pacifism (even if I *do* think that's a load of crock since we humans seem to be much too dense to stop warring against each other) in the face of death. But I can *NOT* stand Mamoru. He *could* show a little affection to Usagi; he's not a stone, if he's noticed (which I doubt). And Ryo/Greg grates on my nerves. Not sure why, though…however, I assure you that there is absolutely no character bashing in this. OOC-ness, yes (in abundance), but chara. bashing? Certainly not.  
  
  
What About Hilde?:  
  
She and Duo are, like Becky of Deathwish (a 2xRelena page) pointed out, more along the lines of brother and sister than lovers. Duo needs someone he can get to smile, not vice versa. The Hilde thing is resolved swiftly in "CaD".  
  
  
Which Universe Is This In?:  
  
GW. That would make the SM portion Alternate Universe. The SM characters exist in the GW world, *without* their Senshi forms.  
  
  
Do You Accept Flames?:  
  
As long as you leave the Caps Lock off, check your grammar and spelling *twice*, make sure you have read the fanfic so you don't make a fool of yourself, avoid flame clichés, do not ever use the f-word, and try to get your point across clearly, go ahead and flame away. However, reviews and comments/criticism/compliments (R and CC&C) are much more welcome and will be put under greater consideration.  
  
  
How Do You Feel About Other Authors Using Fic Elements From Your Story?:  
  
Like it or not, whether I own the characters/shows or not, the moment I write this, it is *COPYRIGHTED* to *ME* and *ME* alone. I'd be flattered if you asked before taking and allowed me time to reply before using an element/idea. Generally, I advise that you stew up your own ideas instead of borrowing others. You'll get more respect.  
  
  
May I Use Your Fic On My Webpage?:  
  
Of course, though *why* you'd want *my* works on your page, I haven't the foggiest. Just give me credit where it's due.  
  
  
How Can I Share My Views And Opinions With You?:  
  
There's always the reviewer if you are reading this on fanfiction.net (which you probably are) or you can e-mail me at Lisa@ascot-sama.zzn.com in case you want to keep the message private.  
  
  
Lisa?:  
  
Lisa Jones. It's a penname, same as PallaPlease, Purple Mongoose/PallaPlease, and Anya Camerone. Those are my four pennames, the PallaPlease one and the Purple Mongoose/PallaPlease ones are on fanfiction.net. ;} I use 'Lisa Jones' as my on-line name and Anya Camerone as my real-life penname. So, as you can tell, I'm a girl. *&.^*   
  
  
Any Special Messages?:  
  
Have a wonderful life! All of you, be you reading this or not, are beautiful beings in God's Eyes. He loves you all! Yes, I'm Christian; I'm Presbyterian to be exact. Proud to be a Believer at 13 yrs!   
  
God bless!  
XOXO! 


	2. Prelude

Crossed and Damned  
Prelude  
  
  
He hated it.  
  
Every stinking, horrible, rotten moment of it.   
  
He hated funerals.  
  
It was so hard to believe that little Hilde, Hildey-chan, could be asleep one moment and deathly still the next.  
  
He'd never found himself needing laughter more than he did the final, quavering moment when she descended into the soil.  
  
So he wondered as he stared at the silvery reflection gazing back at him, why didn't he cry? It hurts so much that it doesn't hurt at all…  
  
Pale, flickering moonlight creeped shyly into the bedroom he was in, sitting on the edge of Hilde's small bed, his long legs crossed underneath him.   
  
He'd wanted a family ever since he had learned what a family was. Sister Helen and Father Maxwell, along with the rest of the Maxwell church, had given him one for a precious while. But they had left, just like Hilde.  
  
"Stress," the doctor had said. She'd died from too much stress. Blood pressure skyrocketed. Her body couldn't take it.  
  
He personally thought it was a load of bull. Caught up in his misery, he had averted his eyes from his mirror image and now he returned the gaze, struck by the lost-looking man that looked like nothing more than a child.  
  
Even his reflection was tainted. Absently scrubbing his hands harshly against the rough cloth of his pants, he tried to dispel the images, so violent and all because of him…Shinigami.  
  
When, he wondered longingly, did I lose my innocence? Blood spilled at his hands, pleading cries ignored. Sometimes, he felt as if he truly *was* the God of Death. Nothing about him wasn't tainted. Hell, he thought with a bitter smile, I'm not even a virgin.  
  
Distantly, as he sat cross-legged on the bedspread, tears glimmering in his eyes, Duo Maxwell, Gundam pilot 02, Shinigami, wondered if maybe, just maybe, there was the chance that there was someone out there who felt just like him. Lost, alone, unneeded. And he wondered if he would ever find that person. 


	3. One

Crossed and Damned  
Chapter One  
  
*  
  
"It's like a dream you try to remember but it's gone  
When you  
Try to scream but it only comes out as a yawn  
When you  
Try to figure out what all this is for."  
  
~Barenaked Ladies, "Pinch Me"  
  
*  
  
With a barely audible sigh, Mizuno Ami fingered the ends of one of her wavy blue locks cut short to frame her face, large blue eyes gazing out through the delicate tortoiseshell glasses perched on her nose. As she stepped quietly out of the shuttle, behind her tall and beautiful mother, she looked like nothing more than an unremarkable, shy young woman in high school. And yet contained within her skull was one of the most brilliant minds Earth had the sovereign right to boast of.  
  
And she hated every press conference Dr. Mizuno, her mother, and she had to attend. Her mother, she knew, enjoyed it and was professional enough to remain unaffected by fame. Of course, that did nothing to help Ami's inability to converse freely before a crowd without falling back on technical terms and large words.   
  
That, in turn, led to a public belief that she was a stuck-up, reclusive snob.  
  
Since people then left her alone, she was somewhat content with the unspoken treaty.  
  
Somewhat.  
  
"Ami-chan, L2 to Ami-chan…"  
  
Blinking owlishly up at her mother, the eighteen-year old's cheeks exploded with a scarlet blush as her mother smirked.   
  
"Listen, sweetie, I have an important meeting I need to get to in fifteen minutes." Seeing the crushed look passing quickly across Ami's small features, Dr. Mizuno smiled reassuringly. "I know I promised to spend the afternoon with you, but our flight *was* delayed, you remember. Anyway, here's your key to our suite," she carefully quested for the key in her purse before handing said key to Ami, "and I should be there by seven=ish tonight. All right, dear? Good! Sayonara, then!" Waving once, cheerfully, Dr. Mizuno skirted the pressing crowds as she moved swiftly to a waiting vehicle.  
  
Giving the key a steady look before flicking her wrist and catching it as it tumbled down from its leap, Ami sighed deeply. "Well, key, looks like it's just you and me now." Pretending the key had given her am answer, she kissed the metal surface before pocketing it. "Damn, but I hope they've got something other than Discovery Channel re-runs at *this* medical suite."  
  
A few people turned and gave her very unusual looks before hurrying along.  
  
*  
  
"Is he drunk off his ass again?" Wufei asked once, bluntly as Duo fiddled with the straw of his multi-flavor milkshake (how in hell Maxwell could drink something with fifty different milkshake flavors in it was beyond Wufei's reasoning), humming something softly beneath his breath that sounded suspiciously like an old Shania Twain song. Quatre paused and shrugged, lying stomach down on the grass of the park they were currently in. Heero snorted and Trowa said something quiet long the lines of, "He is in sorrow after Hilde-chan's death. He needs peace."  
  
A silence, comfortable and familiar, descended fluidly on the five former pilots.  
  
"USAGI NO BAKA!!"  
  
The sudden, fiery, death-foreboding voice shattered the (relative) piece and tranquility, sending Quatre into a yelp and Duo into a pitch-my-milkshake-in-the-direction-of-Wufei frenzy.  
  
A veritable goddess with long raven hair sweeping the inside of her knees, exposed by rolled up jeans, swept past, dragging a smaller woman with long blonde hair and abnormally large blue eyes, which were currently filling with tears, behind her. "Demo, Rei-chan, it was an accident, I swear by all I hold holy!" the blonde wailed pitifully.  
  
"So, you're swearing by ice-cream sundaes and strawberry sodas?" the dark-haired woman spoke sarcastically, scowling at her unfortunate victim.   
  
Usagi, who was apparently the victim, cast about desperately for any help whatsoever. Spying Heero and the others, she eagerly cried, "Help me! Rei's a psychotic murderer and she's gonna-mmfmmmgyuf!"  
  
Rei clamped her hand about Usagi's mouth and hauled her out of view.  
  
"That," Trowa stated calmly, "is why we never go outside on a colony Duo calls home."  
  
*  
  
Having wandered aimlessly along the sidewalks of L2, Ami was stricken by the cheerful oddity of the entire LaGrange colony. She had heard that the majority of L2's civilians were Americans, and thusly different in a variety of ways, but this open frankness was unusual to the born-and-bred Japanese girl. It both fascinated her and repulsed her, the looseness of their culture contrasting sharply with the rigidity of her own. How, she thought dizzily, could she have ever dreaded coming here?   
  
A child with wild red hair and flamboyant freckles dodged past her, yelling back at a small girl of what appeared to be Haitian descent. Laughing at their own joy, she decided to follow the two happily playing children for the sake of avoiding an empty suite. After all, it was only…she risked a quick glance at a large cathedral's clocktower…two-thirty. Spending four hours and another thirty minutes completely alone was *not* her idea of a wonderful trip, whether she liked her solitude or not.  
  
The boy turned and smiled happily at the girl, saying in lisping English, "You'll never catch me!"  
  
The dark-skinned, olive-eyed girl scowled. "Yes, I *will*!" she whined.  
  
"No," the boy drawled, skipping off the sidewalk into the paved street, "you won't, Nanya. 'Cause I'm faster than you." Ami tried to force down the sudden foreboding feeling twisting in her gut.  
  
"Aw, you're just a…a…a big poopy-head, Chrissie!" the girl, Nanya, bit back, staying on the sidewalk. "And you know Mommy says not to play in the streets!"  
  
"Mommy doesn't know everything," Chrissie grinned, his mischievous face bunching up elfinly.  
  
Ami's throat squeezed shut thickly when she heard the sudden screeching of wheels and she learned first-hand that accidents never, ever go in slow motion*.  
  
*  
  
Only slightly intoxicated from an after-picnic trip to a local bar, Duo was stumbling along the streets when the shrill sound of brakes being strained to their limits shattered his eardrums and an agonized, whimpering sort of faltering scream ensued. Needless to say, he was affectively snapped fully back into reality.  
  
Years of training and living on a deadly edged blade of life and death had taught Duo one thing among many.  
  
Time truly was of the essence.  
  
Rounding a corner at breakneck speed (literally), he managed to get out a hasty apology to a startled woman he'd sent sprawling to the ground with an outflung arm.  
  
A tangled wreckage of a car was smashed into what was fortunately a closed establishment. A pale hand dangled out the windshield and picking his way carefully across the street to it, he needed only to take one look to know the driver had departed his mortal shell. Grisly blood dripped about the seat of the mangled car and Duo made a quick, automatic prayer for th driver's soul, the habit engrained into him by the Maxwell church.  
  
Glancing around the shocked people, he hunted for any signs of any wounded. To his growing dismay, he saw a little boy no older than seven curled up fetally in the middle of the street, pools of blood pillowing his body. The movement of his chest was hidden from view by the blue-haired head of a thin young woman expertly taking his heartbeat and tearing her blood-stained skirt to wrap firmly about the largest gashes, trying her hardest to cease the dangerous blood flow before it got worse.  
  
Crouching beside her, he whispered urgently, "Are you the boy's mother?"  
  
Pausing in her work of bandaging him, she shook her head, sending the shiny locks decorating her head into shimmering waves. Still she did not lift her face. "Do you have a cell-phone?" she asked in a clipped voice as a small girl fell beside the boy, sobbing and trying to move and shake him. "No, Nanya, you mustn't move him," she ordered and the little dark girl was startled into silence.   
  
"Yes," Duo responded to her earlier question. Being by no means an exceptionally dull man, he whipped out his phone and dialed the emergency line.   
  
And, to his anger and astonished disbelief, he received a busy signal.   
  
"God DAMN it!!" he snarled viciously and the unscratched, weeping girl stared at him in a sort of awe, saying: "That's a bad word."   
  
"He's lost a great deal of blood," the woman stated softly, her English dialect tinted by the wisp of a Japanese accent in her voice, "and he needs medical attention immediately."  
  
"Phone's busy," Duo sighed, reaching to rip the cloth of his red shirt.   
  
"Well, *kuso*," the woman cursed quietly, looking up anxiously into the violet eyes of Duo.   
  
It was as if he'd been punched in the gut, the way he felt every motor function of his body come to a squealing stop, halting in shock. An angelic face framed by dark blue hair cut so eerily like the girl he had known as Hildey-chan, as his sister or imouto, and large blue eyes behind slender glasses stared inquisitively. She was pale like Hilde, he noted distantly, and built like her, too, though kind of skinnier.  
  
SO, was it any wonder that the words that tumbled so softly from his lips so they almost were nothing but an undecipherable murmur were, "Hilde…?"  
  
Her blue eyebrows knit together in confusion and he wanted to howl in rage.  
  
Sirens blazed into existence as an ambulance tore around the corner and stopped abruptly, the two men carrying a stretcher appearing and destroying the perverse spell.  
  
Feeling as if he was going to retch, he jerked to his feet, turned and ran.  
  
Ami was stunned and sat on her knees and shins until they went numb, not hearing Nanya's hesitant thank-you.  
  
Who was that boy?   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
GAAAAAAAAHH!! This is such a SUCKY chapter!!!! *hits self repeatedly on head* Darn my four Muses! *shakes fist* Ya'll are supposed to make sure I don't write fanfic chapters late at night…*sniffles* I wanna hug something and cry like a little baby! *turns and glomps the aLiEn tiGEr who is used to this sort of thing, being the giant, 5'3" long & high Muse with thick fluffy fur, after all, aLiEn tiGEr - =.= - IS a tiGEr* WAAAAA!! *bawls* Okay, I'm fine. No, wait…*wails for another moment or two* I know, I know, this chapter wasn't very good and I'm probably moving too fast, but I wrote this at ten o'clock PM, New Mexico time, and I'm bouncing off the side-affects of eating thirteen Thin Mints, two Sprites, and chocolate ice cream with chocolate syrup. (Hey, I've got high metabolism!) So, I apologize sincerely for the crappiness of this. *Told* you it was an unexceptional Duo/Ami fic.  
  
God Bless!  
XOXO!  
  
Signed,  
Me, of course!  
Contact me via review-thing or at Lisa@ascot-sama.zzn.com - but, be warned. My zzn.com address isn't as good as my AOL one, which I'll never release willingly. ;} Ja ne! 


	4. Two

Crossed and Damned  
Chapter Two  
  
*  
  
"It's like a dream you try to remember but it's gone  
When you  
Try to scream but it only comes out as a yawn  
When you  
Try to figure out what all this is for."  
  
~Barenaked Ladies, "Pinch Me"  
  
*  
  
She supposed, as she called out the names of her children frantically, that she should get better locks on the doors. As soon as she managed to get enough money…  
  
But twenty-two year old Kino Makoto had more important things to worry about than financial situations. Like her children.  
  
The holo-sun was setting on the 'horizon' and as she raced along the streets, red-brown curls swinging from side to side from its position in a ponytail, she cried out their names another time. Tears stung her deep green eyes and, praying fervently, she growled at the apron tangling itself about her legs. Ripping at the knot, she pulled it free, tossing the flour-covered cloth to the side, letting it flutter to the sidewalk.  
  
"Chrissie! Nanya! Oh, God, please let them be safe…"   
  
{{"Look, Mommy! I made a cross for my new sister! Is she coming today?"}}  
  
Biting back a sob, she forced herself to quell the natural instincts to scream and fight for her children.   
  
{{"Hey, Nanya, there's this really cool toy shop by 5th Market and McGulf Avenue!"}}  
  
The memory suddenly became crystal clear, shattering the fog of desperation. It was just after Makoto had turned nineteen and Chrissie was four. They had picked up his adopted sister, Nanya, from the orphanage and her red-headed son had told Nanya about his favorite place…   
  
A wave of intense relief washed through Makoto and she relaxed, even letting a smile cross her face. They were at the toy shop, they were just fine…  
  
Turning corners and crossing streets unconsciously, with the unerring expertise of one who knew the path not only by heart, but soul as well, she moved past a brick corner…and found herself in hell.  
  
Twisted, ravaged metal curled in the toy shop, what was once a car had become a tangled heap of junk, a ghostly white hand limply hanging out one window. Her throat squeezed shut viciously, and she nearly retched at the blood pooling in the streets. 'Oh, God, who art in heaven, hallowed by thy name,' her mind stammered and she bit her tongue hard enough to draw blood.  
  
"Mommy!"  
  
Nanya.  
  
Oh, God, where was Chrissie?  
  
Two small, warm brown arms wrapped about her legs and she pulled her six-year old daughter into a deep bear hug, the child's small, wet face burying into the crook where her neck met her shoulders and collarbone. "Mommy," Nanya sobbed, curly black hair matted onto her skull, "Chrissie got hurt really bad! He…he wouldn't move, Mommy!"  
  
NonononoNO!!  
  
"Excuse me, ma'am."  
  
Makoto turned, daughter clenched tightly in her arms. A small woman, barely more than a girl, with dark blue hair and large aquamarine eyes behind a pair of spectacles was staring at her.   
  
"Are you this child's mother?" the woman-girl continued, a Japanese accent in her words.  
  
Pressing her lips into Nanya's hair, she nodded.   
  
The Japanese woman-girl hesitated before swallowing and adding, "And are you also the mother of the small boy with freckles and red-hair?"  
  
"Y…yes. I am their mother."  
  
The woman-girl bit her lip sharply. "Your son has been taken to the Emergency Room. He was struck by the car over there as the driver sped at 75 miles-per-hour. He…sustained injuries to the skull, chest cavity, spine, and pelvis. I…I think he has a good chance of living if the doctors operate fast enough."  
  
'Bullshit," Makoto replied quietly. "That's what they said about my parents when I was twelve. They died."  
  
"We," the blue-haired woman-girl interjected, "have learned much over the course of ten years, ma'am. My name is Mizuno Ami and I will personally see to it that your son is not only alive, but able to walk."  
  
Makoto glanced at her wide-eyed, crying daughter and looked back up, face as emotionless as granite. "I'm holding you to that promise. Now I want to see my son."  
  
*  
  
Iria Jasmine Winner was up for lunch break when the call was patched through. Seven-year old boy with a fractured skull, three broken ribs, a broken hip, and possible spinal injuries was being brought to the emergency room of LaGrange Point 2 Central Hospital. Massive loss of blood from large gashes along legs and spine. All doctors and nurses available were to report to surgery at once.  
  
Tools sharpened and laid out, disinfected everything, Iria sent a swift prayer to Allah that this child would not die. She didn't want to see the utter despair she had seen in that Maxwell man's eyes when his loved one couldn't be saved. 'Oh, please, child, don't die! There must be someone who loves you so much that it would end everything for them if you departed.'  
  
She knew her little brother was in the lobby, having arrived for lunch. And she knew that he knew about the sudden emergency.  
  
'Do you,' she thought to the boy as procedures began immediately, attention to protocol and his welfare prominent in everything, 'have a sister or brother who loves you? Live for them…'  
  
They began.  
  
*  
  
He crumpled into a heap somewhere far from the crash site, screaming and gritting his teeth, pummeling the ground with angry fists and dark words. God, he hated his life. His 'little sister' had died, and then he had to come face-to-face with someone who could have passed as her Japanese twin? The cosmos had a sick sense of humor.  
  
But Duo knew that the small, petite woman hadn't been his adopted sister. She'd been someone wholly different, with a feel about her that was both attractive and wary.   
  
And, damn it, his thoughts kept returning to that little boy, bleeding and unconscious, sunk into a delirious not-slumber, half-dead, half-alive. He'd killed hundreds of soldiers before! Why would it matter if he never knew whether that one child lived or died?  
  
Because, he realized morosely, the child was a child. Still innocent and naïve, impressionable and brimming with excitement, a child. A *child*, for goodness' sake.   
  
Pulling himself up to his feet, getting up from his knees, he ran a hand through his chestnut brown hair until it reached the beginning of his braid, sighing a ragged, weary sigh. He hoped with all his being that he wouldn't bump into that eerie girl, who looked like Hilde, but didn't, at the same time.  
  
He was afraid of her.  
  
*  
  
"Lolli, lolli, lollipop," Makoto sang softly to the breathing bundle in her arms, carefully walking through the halls of L2 Central Hospital in the wake of the slight figure of Ami. She recognized the name and face from public viewscreens--she was the genius from Earth, a renowned everything-whiz and doctor. Nanya whimpered momentarily in her arms and the tall, leggy woman shifted, causing her daughter to fall still and silent, sucking soundlessly on the collar of her little t-shirt. She smiled affectionately down at her little girl, eyes misting slightly. After a moment, she noticed that Ami was saying something.  
  
"-ait here. You aren't allowed to view the surgery due to inter-colony-Earth protocol and regulations," Ami explained coolly, though her heart wrenched sympathetically for the young mother.  
  
There was a blonde man, small and delicate in body build, in the lobby, younger than Makoto by three years at the least. He had a worried expression on his face, pacing nervously a few steps one way before doubling back and repeating the process. Wringing slender, pale hands, one decorated by a simple silver band with a gold seal on it, he spared the trio of females a glance, returning to his crude pacing with renewed vigor.  
  
"Please stay here, Ms. Kino. I will see how your son is doing." Ami bowed, vanishing, it seemed to Makoto, into the maze of corridors.  
  
"It's your son in the ER then, is it?" the young man broke the silence, large, trembling blue eyes holding her green ones.  
  
"Wouldn't you like to know?" she snapped back at him, cradling Nanya and collapsing into a hard plastic chair that obviously wasn't built to fit the height and shape of a twenty-two year old woman with a sixty-something pound daughter in her arms.  
  
He overlooked her rude response, speaking to himself, "My older sister, Iria, is one of the surgeons. She should be able to help. Allah willing, the boy should be fine…" His voice trailed off and he turned to stare at Makoto.  
  
*  
  
She looked worn out and tired beyond belief, red lips thin and drawn tight from worry. Rusty red ringlets circled her face and she was beautiful, Quatre thought with a blush, though she had a hardened look to her, like those who had it rough and were more likely to take an eye for an eye instead of turning the other cheek.  
  
The tiny girl she held gently in her arms was dark of skin and hair, eyes closed tightly. She looked far too young, he mused, to have birthed the boy they had carted in, unless she had been fifteen when she gave birth.  
  
He shook his head. Why was he thinking such thoughts when there was a bleeding, possibly dying (or dead) boy in the emergency room that this youthfully haggard woman was mother to? He was ashamed of himself, even as he feared for the boy.  
  
*  
  
Ami found herself outside the hospital instead of in the emergency room's own personal lobby. Why exactly she had been driven outside to the false environment of the colony was beyond her. A slight mist of artificial rain drifted gently down, creating fog as it touched the dampened sidewalk. Sighing and folding her arms about her chest, she closed her eyes for a brief respite, imagining herself back in her cozy little room with the stuffed toy on her pillow. A black panther, given to her by a deceased relative, curled on her pillowcase. The wallpaper was in the pattern of water lilies and tiger lilies and violets, all blue and comforting, soothing her when she felt depressed or angered. There was a fish tank in the corner, with an Amazonian fish swimming tranquilly in it, shimmering scales twinkling enigmatically beneath the warming lamp designed for sunbathing.   
  
She sighed again, leaning despondently on a stone pillar built for show, not support.   
  
There was man, she saw after a moment, running through the rain toward the building, with a thick, wet braid thudding heavily on his back. He must be soaked, Ami realized, and that black priest's outfit couldn't have been helping matters any. Waving at him, she noted with relief that he increased pace, managing to get under the immense stone walkway's roof before the light drizzle decided to become an artificial downpour, drenching and almost drowning everything.  
  
The man whistled, not looking at her and she realized, with a start, that it was the man who had been spooked earlier by her appearance. The one who called her 'Hilde'…  
  
"Some rain, huh?" he grinned, finally turning to look at her. His grin vanished instantly and his eyes widened. "Oh," he stated calmly, "God."  
  
When faced with the dilemma of fleeing into the 'storm' and risk being drowned and beaten by the obviously malfunctioning pipe system or staying and getting to know this Hilde-clone, he chose the former and was preparing to become very well acquainted with immense pain when a firm grip grabbed his braid, hauling him back.  
  
It was the woman-girl, face set in a frown. "Who," she asked carefully, "are you?"  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Oooooo. Cliffhanger-y. No, just really, really stupid. :} Anyway, I kinda went Makoto/Quatre-ish there for a moment. And, no, I wasn't planning on making Chrissie and Nanya be Makoto's kids. But, I decided I liked the little squirts too much for them to just be how I get Duo and Ami to meet (their original, sole purpose). And Makoto had *rusty red* hair in the manga, not chestnut-brown. Expect more weirdness next chapter! Well, that's whenever I get the time to write it. Oi.  
  
XOXO!  
Purple Mongoose/PallaPlease.  
CC&C, R, and, heck, flames are all welcome! 


	5. Additional Notes: PLEASE READ

Crossed and Damned  
Additional Notes: PLEASE READ  
  
  
Little Details Needed To Be Known Are As Follow:  
  
___  
  
Ages For Major Characters---  
  
SM:  
  
Usagi--17  
Ami--18  
Rei--18  
Minako--18  
Makoto--22  
Mamoru--23   
  
GW:  
  
Heero--19  
Duo--19  
Wufei--19  
Trowa--18  
Quatre--17  
Relena--17  
  
___  
  
Resources:  
  
SM:  
  
Anime, manga (dubs), Internet.  
  
GW:  
  
Anime (dub).  
  
Any Use Of Japanese Language:  
  
Internet.  
  
___  
  
Characters That Will Be Presented OOC:  
  
Heero  
Duo (depends on your POV)  
Ami (same as above)  
Mamoru  
Minako  
Makoto  
  
___  
  
Original Characters:  
  
Christopher "Chrissie"  
Nanya  
Arabell  
Assorted extras  
  
___  
  
Time:  
  
Spring, AC 198  
  
___  
  
Location:  
  
LaGrange Point 2/L2/where Duo comes from  
  
___  
  
Amount of Chapters [Possible]:  
  
15-20  
  
___  
  
Dedicated To:  
  
Everyone!  
  
___  
  
  
Sorry, I know this wasn't very informative or whatever, but it serves as a guide to ages, etc. and also as a warning as to who's going to be OOC. 


End file.
